ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

A Christmas Song for cor anglais and guitar

Instrumental arrangement of my Christmas song - being a meditation on finding the Christ child within oneself - the poem is by Audrey Vaughan.I sought him where the marble shone and rang with singing echoes to the hurrying prelates' feet and found him not I sought him where the golden glow and painted heav'n-eyed saints adorn the sleeping altars and found him not I sought him where all nature's beauty burned with autumn leaves afire with death against the long blue sky and found him not I sought him down the stone sett streets dull beneath the misty rain which closed the surrounding hillsand found him notI sought him in the eyes of strangers bright with giving thoughts and in the hearts of friends but found him not I sought him him whom I loved in ev'ry thing I loved in my own heart's loving but this night I found him notI found him not but still I sought him this gurgling boy of joy but where? the dark sky all above and round me like a suffocating empty cloak took time away my thoughts away my search away and the peace of emptiness of selfopened the low brown door and there his newness tiny lay deep in the shriven hollow of my heartcradled there I found him.

Instrumental duo inspired by Neville Frenkiels' poem "A forever kind of love""There is no explaining all the changes inside just one person's lifetime too many kinds of pain don't even have a name.There is no explaining the meaning of them all. Only questions ...but I do believe the slowly changing colours of the seasons clearly show how ev'ry thing in its turn must surrender and all things overflow into for ever An everlasting love, ev'rything ev'rything love"

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Ariette Oubliée for for cor anglais and guitar

Arrangement of Ariette Oubliée No 4 originally written for alto and guitar (also available on this site).The song is based on a poem by Paul Verlaine in which he imagines himself and his boyfriend Rimbaud as two innocent little girls

[literal translation into English] You see, you`ll have to forgive us a few things Then we`ll be two happy little girls And if our life is a bit sad at times at least there will be two of us sobbing together, won`t there?

Oh sister souls that we are, wouldn`t we just mingle Childish sweetness with our embarassed vows To wander far from the world of adults And forget our banishment in all our fresh innocence

Let`s be two children, two little girls In love with nought and astonished by all Going pale-faced down innocent tree-lined paths Not even aware that they`ve been forgiven.

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Bluish Bunny for cor anglais and guitar

A quirky piece involving rhythmical bounces (especially 4/4 time mixed with 3-3-2 time) and bluesy chords.The piece was originally intended as a setting for Prévert's poem "Pour toi mon amour" but themelody took on a life of its own and the bunny rabbit won the race...

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Cupid for cor anglais and guitar

Instrumental arrangement of my song "Cupid shame yourself"Cupid, shame yourself, For you have touched marble.You broke a comfortable glacier with hottest arrows,You dared warm a frozen sea, alien to love,and showed it tenderness beyond just friends

Tomorrow I leave you: pointless vain passionsAlready the plate of the stars spins down towards meAnd the breeze whispers this lie:"You need no love."

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Feuer und Wasser for cor anglais and guitar

This sequence and melody was inspired by a poem written by a friend called Otto Wanke, who was going through the teenage angst of splitting up with the first girl he loved. The title (Feuer und Wasser = Fire and Water) refers to the idea that these two "elements" are incompatible, but the music (in minor mode with occasional hints of Dorian) is a simple lament rather than a musical description of the "elements" in question.The music was originally written as a song for alto voice with classical guitar accompaniment.The poem is a somewhat resigned teenage-angst song of unrequited love.

Instrumental duo which speaks for itself and can be interpreted in a personal way by any who had a child (or who wished they could have had one). The melody wanders from nostalgic thoughts to brief smiling moments of remembrance and back to regret.For those who recognise traditional liturgical melodies, you may note that the guitar quotes the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" for time to time, as a sign of hope.The original song, for alto and guitar, was based on a poem by Carol Rumens:The girl in the CathedralDaring to watch over Martyrs and Archbishopsstretched in their full length slumberSharp-nosed Deans Princes and Knights still dressed for wars,as dim as bronzeslim feet at rest upon the flanks of long unwhistled hounds

Daring the chills and dusts that cling to stiffly soaring branchesThis small eloquence is a stone so plainit cannot go unreada chiselled spray of drooping budsa name a date an ageSusannah Starr died at ten years oldand nobody knows why her timid presenceshould be commended herewhile history filled the logbooks of these livesshe sat aparta wellbred child perhapspatient with tutors and needlepointperhaps a foundling saved by some lean churchmanwarming to his dutyQuietly during eighteen o fourthe blind was drawnthe halfstitched sampler foldedWhoever mourned her must have carried weightand bought her this pale spaceto ease his grief,as if such sainted company could speed her journeying soulor because he guessed the power of one short nameand "ten years old"to strip all the clothesfrom all these emperorsand rouse her simple ghostour pointless tears.﻿

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Rosebuds for cor anglais and guitar

Rosebuds is an instrumental piece based on my song for alto and guitar "As gleams the Rosebud"(my father's translation of the poem "Comme on voit sur la branche" by the Renaissance poet Pierre de Ronsard)the idea being the old theme of "Gather ye rosebuds while you may" ...The old poet advises the object of his love to make the most of young life and he remembers his own youthwith nostalgic regret.

As gleams the rose-bud in the month of MayIn the first flush of youth and velvet flowerRendering Heaven jealous of her colourBrimming with dawn tears at the break of day;

Within her petals love and grace both dwell, Perfuming all the gardens and the trees. Yet stricken by the rain or heat she dies, Swooning away, with petals all unfurled.

And so it is, fresh in your tender years,When earth and sky lauded your comeliness, Fate struck you down, ashes alone are left.

In tender memory receive my tearsA sad libation to refresh these posies,So that, alive or dead, you are but roses.

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Sentimental song for cor anglais and guitar

Instrumental arrangement of my song based on the poem by the Armenian poet Vahan Teryan,as translated by James Russell

The English translation of the poem is:Do you remember the forestThe stream that was like a fairy taleA dreamAnd the silent evening’s voiceless speechDo you remember?It was far far awayDo you remember the shining earthThat smiled in loving eternal mirthHow that Spring sang with magical powerDo you remember the stream, the forest?Do you remember the night coming onStream and wood like a fairy taleDo you remember far far awayCome to the world of endless memories Come!

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Serenade in the summer residence for cor anglais and guitar

Instrumental Duo based on my song inspired by a poem by Reiner Kunze as translated by Ewald Osers, initially composed as a song for alto and guitar.It describes a harpsichord concert in a rich summer residence on a hot balmy day.

Original translation of the poem

The sala terrena.a heavy chandelier,a parade of candlesfor the Allegro,which comesthrough the centuries.

Eyes closed,the harpsichord playerfingers his keys,a man illuminated,illumination burstingfrom art and fugue.We sit motionless,as if in us too a candle,a candle were burning.

Later in the park,black beetles scurrying,violin cases under their arms,townwards they walk.Under their overcoats,for chillier ev'nings,their black wings show.We walk behind them,looking for golden bridges.﻿

This is based on my 1976 suite for violin and guitar by the same name, written for a love that never was to be.It is now re-arranged for cor anglais with guitar.The movements are:PreludeDie lockige Narzisse (The curly-headed Narcissus) Les fleurs langoureuses (The langourous flowers)La fleur aux abeilles (The flower with bees) Ring of Roses

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Street Song for cor anglais and guitar

Instrumental duo based on my setting of Vahan Teryan's poem Street Song (as translated by James Russell).

The English translation is:The sad song sung by a wandering singerSounds beneath my windowHow many times have I heard it before?So it seems as though I had woven that songYou would think it was I who cried in that song.You would think I was singing that song out of longing for you.

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The Swallows for cor anglais and guitar

The Swallows is based on the poem by Gourgen Mahari, as translated from the Armenian by James Russell.The Armenian poet Gourgen Mahari, who died in the USSR in 1969 is lamenting his many compatriotswho were exiled, dispossessed and killed during the 20th century (poem shown below)

Far in the distant Nile Valley down nameless highways unknown,where the Dead Sea`s gloomy ripples break,straining on their way unfinished home,with a song in their hearts, the swallows died,unable to return.Far in the distant Nile Valley down down nameless highways unknown.They never came back to adorn the Spring with heady song,to chant with the winds the green meadow, rebuild abandoned nests.They died on distant mountains, plains afar, unable to return.Far away.Can they subsist with the love of our heartsor our gardens` blossoms gay or our joyous vernal rains?They who died on the way unfinished home.Far in the distant Nile Valley.Unable to return.

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Unending bound for cor anglais and classical guitar

Instrumental version of a song inspired by Verlaine's poem "Dans l'interminable ennui de la plaine"The guitar part makes use of the technique duplicating notes on different strings.[English translation follows]